Warpaint: What Does George W. Bush See in His “Portraits of Courage”?
There’s an explosion on nearly every other page of George W. Bush’s Portraits of Courage:…
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California Inmates Protest the Abuse of Long-Term Solitary Confinement
In US prisons, stays in solitary confinement often exceed years and turn into tens of years. “The reality is stunning,” says Markle Downton, “and it certainly helps to makes sense of why people who are incarcerated in California feel the situation is dire enough that it’s necessary to put their lives on the line to call for reform.”
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Do Not Have Sex with This Man
Ross Douthat wants you to have more babies. And he wants you to be married when you have those babies. And not just any babies. He wants you to have American babies—though, if you’re an immigrant, he’ll take your babies, too, because that’s really the only reason to allow immigrants to be here. And he wants you to hurry up and have those American babies, because if you don’t, we’ll run out of workers, and if we run out of workers the United States will get “knocked off its global perch.” Because that’s what’s at stake, ladies and gentlemen—American domination.
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Rape and Richard Mourdock’s Semi-Omnipotent God
After Richard Mourdock, a Republican Senate Candidate in Indiana, called pregnancy after rape a gift from God critics were furious. Were they wrong to conclude that this popular theology leads to some very disturbing beliefs?
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Bin Laden’s Death Does Not Prove that Torture Works
The assassination of Osama bin Laden has revived the so-called torture debate. Even if it did help in his capture (which it didn’t), torture is still wrong.
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Women, Religion, and Film: Higher Ground Raises the Stakes
Watching Higher Ground felt like catching a glimpse of a mythical creature I’d let myself imagine but never thought I’d see in real life. But suddenly there it was, projected on a big screen: sophisticated and complex theological thinking, a female protagonist interested in ideas and books and God, a friendship between two women that has very little to do with men and everything to do with trusting your body and your mind, and the insidious nature of religiously sanctioned sexism and its devastating effects.
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The Harlot Shall Be Burned with Fire: Biblical Literalism in The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo
In The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo, religious violence is supposed to be resisted, but it’s also violence that the audience is being asked to look at. Over and over and over again.
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Breaking Up with God: I Didn’t Lose My Faith, I Left It
Some relationships are so bad that the only thing you can do to save your life is leave. And that takes tremendous courage.
Read MoreRep. Pelosi, Can I Tweet You Some Lewd Photos?
Why are we loathe to punish the sins of government torturers yet so eager to punish the sins of the Weiners?
Read MoreBush’s New Book: “Damn Right I OK’d Torture”
What message do we send when we don’t prosecute torture?
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